Inside the Cosmetics convention, Ahava boss denies the Occupation

On Monday, July 19th, Jodie Evans of CODEPINK and supporter Zissa went to the Cosmetics Professionals (COSMOPROF) Convention at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas to confront Ahava North America CEO Michael Etedgi for the second year in a row. Last July, Jodie and another woman did a bikini and mud protest in the Ahava booth at the convention. This year they were hoping to have a dialogue with Etedgi and to educate more cosmetics professionals about the illegal practices of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories.

The two women picked up their credentials, and then handed out Stolen Beauty AHAVA boycott fliers to conference attendees (as Jodie related to me later). They subsequently entered the convention hall, and as they walked towards the Ahava booth, Ahava’s CEO Michael Etedgi immediately recognized Jodie. Etedgi greeted Jodie by saying, “We know who you are. You are CODEPINK. You disrupted this booth last year and I have to ask you to leave.” The four-man security detail at the booth grabbed Jodie and Zissa, pulling the two women by their arms. As this was happening, Jodie looked Etedgi in the eyes and said, “I am not disrupting. I came to have a conversation with you.”

Etedgi called off security, and he and Jodie had an exchange that lasted for about ten minutes. Jodie asked him why Ahava wasn’t moving its factory out of the Occupied Territories so that they would no longer be violating international law. He claimed that what he was doing was perfectly legal. In his opinion, the factory was in Israel. Jodie said that she had visited the West Bank, and the factory was clearly north of the internationally recognized Green Line that demarcated Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Every government in the world—including that of the United States and with the exception of Israel’s—recognized this land as occupied.

Etedgi argued that they were not “occupied” territories but rather “disputed” territories. He went on to claim that the dispute would be over when peace came and this question would be resolved because the land would all belong to Israel and there would no longer be a problem. He refused to answer any questions about the violations of rights of the people in the Occupied Territories. Etedgi stated that the factory was going to stay put. And then he threatened to bring legal action against CODEPINK and the Stolen Beauty campaign because we were defaming his company.

During this interchange in the Ahava convention booth, the crowd watching the debate was growing, Zissa was chanting Stolen Beauty slogans, and when it was apparent that the dialogue was at an impasse, Etedgi finally told security to haul the two women away. They loudly objected to being ejected, and continued chanting “Ahava, you can’t hide, we can see your dirty side” at the main entrance until two building security guards escorted them outside and unceremoniously stuffed them into a taxi. Jodie and Zissa instructed the driver to take them around the building to the hotel’s main entrance.

Jodie changed clothes, and headed back to the entrance of the convention hall, where she spent an additional two hours handing out over 1,000 fliers, giving out 500 STOLEN BEAUTY stickers, and educating passersby about Ahava’s illegal practices.

Despite Etedgi’s pretense to the contrary, the factory is in an Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on land that belonged to the Palestinian village of Arab et Ta’amira. Additionally Ahava excavates mud from the shores of the Dead Sea near the Israeli settlement of Kalya. This is exploitation of occupied natural resources by an occupying power, a practice that is explicitly forbidden by the Geneva Conventions. Finally, Mitzpe Shalem and Kalya, two Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank, collectively own 43% of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, meaning that the company’s profits are subsidizing Israel’s illegal settlement project, which has been globally recognized as an impediment to a just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Ahava Cosmetics: Made by Israeli profiteers in Occupied Palestine.

Nancy Kricorian is a writer and activist in New York, she is the campaign manager for CODEPINK‘s Stolen Beauty Ahava boycott.

72 Responses

Etedgi argued that they were not “occupied” territories but rather “disputed” territories.

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 2253 (ES-V) of 4 July 1967 and 2254 (ES-V) of 14 July 1967, Having considered the letter of the Permanent Representative of Jordan on the situation in Jerusalem (S/8560) and the report of the Secretary-General (S/8146), Having heard the statements made before the Council,

Noting that since the adoption of the above-mentioned resolutions Israel has taken further measures and actions in contravention of those resolutions,

Bearing in mind the need to work for a just and lasting peace,

Reaffirming that acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible,

1. Deplores the failure of Israel to comply with the General Assembly resolutions mentioned above;

2. Considers that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, including expropriation of land and properties thereon, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change that status;

3. Urgently calls upon Israel to rescind all such measures already taken and to desist forthwith from taking any further action which tends to change the status of Jerusalem;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the implementation of the present resolution.

1. The Arabs states decided that the game is one of “Military Conquest”, not Israel. Israel tried to accept partition, hoping to trade land for peace, getting neither.

2. The document cited is not any sense international law, no matter how many times the mainstream media claim it is.

3. The status of Jerusalem was fixed by the League of Nations as part of the Jewish homeland. The only thing that changed the status after that was military conquest by Jordon.

4. If Israel conquered parts of Lebanon, that territory would be occupied. But in Palestine, the Jews have national rights. Neither the BBC nor the General Assembly nor even the Security Council has the right to change that. Just as they don’t have the right to declare California part of Mexico. The accommodating nature of Israels governments has led to the general impression of the opposite. Impressions are not international law.

Does anyone know if Ulta Cosmetics is Israeli-owned? Or if the major shareholders are Israelis? I seem to remember that is the case. Difficult to find out now, since BDS started, because these ownerships are being hidden.

Ulta has no locations outside the US. Looks like corporate headquarters is in Bollingbrook, IL. Founded in 1990; a few of the people in executive positions have Jewish names, so what? Lyn Kirby, current president, used to work for The Limited, which IS owned by a staunchly pro-Israel family that has a philanthropic arm that sponsors Birthright and/or something like “Stand and Deliver,” a program to train young American Jews on how to represent Israel — something like what evangelicals learn at Liberty U.

attempt to download pdf of Annual Report was unsuccessful. I suspect mossad. ;>

But maxine, are you not proud of what you are? Being ashamed of what you are means you are not fully committed to the cause. Your masters do not tolerate partial commitment, you have to be 100%. Now get with the programme and start boasting.

Rachelgolem, “Wondering Jew” one of the commenters, is single, Jewish unmarried, and wants desperately to make a contribution to Jewish Society. Sure, maybe you’re married, but you have maybe a sister, cousin, or a friend? Do you want to see them end up “angry, dysfuntional childless women who are over educated, under employed and living alone with cats”? Please, if you come up with something, let Wondering Jew know about it. Given the approval of the Jewish authorities, perhaps something can be arranged, and you will have played a part in defusing the Palestinian Demographic Time Bomb.

Matchmaking is never in the wrong direction! We really need to find WJ a nice girl.
After all, think about it: Masturbation, of course, is forbidden, (thanks to Onan, who thought his sperm was Miracle-Gro) pre-marital sex is forbidden (it’s fatal to parents), and well, by 55 years old it’s a wonder he can get through the day without grabbing some poor girl, dragging her off into the shrubbery, and proposing.

Not to be critical or anything, Mooser, but has wj ever demonstrated any interest in females, let alone human females? Before we marry the stodge off to some young, nubile, ripe, female zionist, shouldn’t we check for basic compatibility? The history of domestic crime is full of accounts where incompatible people visited violence upon each other. I’d hate to be responsible for pushing two individuals into a match made in hell.

“Codepink is mostly a group of angry, dysfuntional childless women who are over educated, under employed and living alone with cats.”

Is obviously not a female, not a human one raised upon planet Earth. That is the attitude of a male critter who hates women, all women, except maybe Mother, of course, and who has gone through life bitter and resentful. So perhaps a little matchmaking connecting up rachalgolem and wanderingjew wouldn’t be such a bad thing….

hayate, according to WJ all they have to do is Fed-ex each other their dirty laundry. One smell should tell. Besides, I would think the business of producing “my Jewish children” (“eee”) would keep them from arguing.
Unfortunately, WJ has admitted, on the Chelsea Clinto thread, that he has never been circumstanced. So there’s that hurdle to get over, after he heals up, of course.
But I don’t know what you are talking about, haven’t you read enough of WJ to realise he would be any women’s ideal? Once he heals up, of course, from the circumstancing.

rachelgolem,
Just to let you know that your spoof web site has been reported to Democracy Now! corporate office in New York for misuse and abuse of their corporate identity.
They should contact you soon via their attorneys.
I provided them with your hotmail address as well.
Your juvenile prank about Rachel Corrie was rather tasteless but what can we expect from someone high on ziocaine.

If you’re very smart but do not have a good job, you’re shit, huh, viper Rachel?

“living alone with cats.”

I agree! People living alone have no understanding, connection or interaction with other fellow human beings, only with animals..They shouldn’t be allowed to vote or to speak, they don’t know what they’re doing..

I can’t believe you wrote such a nasty piece of …..Maybe because you’re just that..grosse merde!

Bumblebye
Thanks for the link..I became aware of the existence of the golems the day I worked briefly as an illustrator for a (defunct now) magazine called “Melog”. As for Rachel, I just hope she wouldn’t be making any children..for the sake of the planet earth…

Ahava cosmetics are guaranteed to help prevent intermarriage. Their secret Dead Sea-mud formula seeks out and combines with special Jewish genes, to create an self-determined aroma irresistible to other Jews, but a checkpoint for Gentiles! Comes in Any-Old-Jew, Alrightniks Only, and exclusive Fust-Cless Ashkenazi Supreme formula.
Remember girls, use Ahava, and your man will never have daul loyalties again! With Ahava, only you will occupy his heart!

Virtual lab, the popularity of the Nazi/Zionist comparison continues in spite of all efforts to declare it not useful, tasteless, not quite true, or even out-dated and anti-Semitic. Apparently, it’s seems so apt to some people it just springs to mind as a descriptor for Israeli or Zionist actions.
I just don’t know what can be done about it. Never use it myself, but many other people seem to find it appropriate.

Etedgi is absolutely right. The territories are “disputed.” The dispute is between Israel, which makes some sort of claim on them, versus all the other countries of the world and international law. It is reminiscent of the dispute following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, when Saddam declared Kuwait to be Iraq’s 19th province, and the rest of the world disagreed. Etedgi may be interested to know that his bank account is also of disputed ownership. I think it’s mine, and he would probably disagree. Each of these three disputes is of a similar character.

I think the term “disputed” is of the same vintage as “moderate physical pressure,” the official Israeli term for what the rest of the untutored world considers “torture.” They are relics of a bygone era, when Israeli rhetoric changed the world by sheer force of will. Israel’s description of its actions toward Gaza as “humanitarian” is a bold attempt to recapture that glory. The wonder is that English is not their primary language. The Arabs have yet to compete with this expert wordsmithing, even in Arabic! But then again, they have invented nothing since algebra (and I’ll bet they stole credit for that invention from the Jews – is anyone looking into this?), and they are way, way behind in Nobel Prizes.

David Samel- I don’t accept the description of the West Bank as disputed territories, but…

But the annexation of the West Bank by Jordan was never accepted by the world and so there is an element of “unclaimedness” to it. It is now attributed by most of the world as Palestinian territory, but in fact there is not now, nor has there ever been (I don’t think) a Palestinian government (unless you count the British mandate, which was a mandate and not a government per se.)

I realize it’s foolish to make arguments that I are technically true, but not ultimately true. If Israel had annexed the territories and offered the population citizenship then this would have been a different story. But the (Arab/Palestinian) population of the West Bank is deprived of their basic rights and so the disputed versus occupied is besides the point.

The relevant document is Resolution 242 that stated that territories would be traded for peace. (again because of the intentional omission of the word “the” there was a vagueness involved in whether all the territories or only most of the territories would be traded for peace.) and because the preamble of 242 stated that gaining territory by acts of aggression is not acceptable, this made it clear that most of the territory would “return” to someone. But at the time of the beginning of the war, Jordan’s “possession” of the territory was not accepted by the world.

(Those who worked on cobbling together Res. 242 stated very clearly in the historical notes vis a vis the cobbling of this resolution that they foresaw the possibility of minor adjustments to the border of 67, so there is some validity to the disputed nature of the border. But every time Israel built in the West Bank the world expressed their displeasure, so it was clear that the world might have seen the border as negotiable, but still Israel was not supposed to treat it as their own.)

(In fact, I accept Israel’s treatment of the area of the Western or Wailing Wall as Israel’s own and the Jewish Quarter as well. This has no basis in international law, but the stake of the Jewish people regarding the area near the Temple Mount called the Wall and the part of the old City called the Jewish Quarter were not going to be denied to Israel and so I accept it, despite international law.)

WJ – the preamble of 242 did not state that “gaining territory by acts of aggression is not acceptable”; it said “war” not aggression. Huge difference where Israel claims that all wars it fought, even those it commenced, and certainly the 67 War, were defensive. Since all of the territory was gained during this war, none of it belongs to Israel. Period. There was some back and forth about the definite article “the,” but the intent of the resolution, requiring return of all the terroitories, is not really in doubt. Nor is Israel’s flagrant violation of the resolution, refusing to return any of it until compelled by the next war.

Iranians still demand its return.
of course, Iran is still demanding the return of the Cyrus cylinder, the billions of dollars Carter froze in 1979, the millions of dollars Israel owes Iran in payment of law suits, . . .

Wtf is up with this G-d rubbish? There was this sabbath goy at guardiantalk a couple of years ago who used to post like that, but the ziofasists there used to call the thing a fake Jew and pretend they were somehow different.

Dear Mooser , A bit childish reaction of unease with the status quo, ment to suggest the occupants are outdated, literally.
At the same time the “n” word as cartoonesque passepartout, cosmetic panacea , even mudslinger, has lost its potency through overindulgence and misuse.

Calling the beast by its own name clarifies matters greatly, though Soup-Zionist does not have quite that zing yet.

When it does, I’ll be happy to adopt the term. Meanwhile, I’ll stick with what works.

(btw, I saw that episode – was a guest at someone’s place that evening and had little choice, unfortunately. Never understood how such a tedious person as signfelt could have ever made it on his own merits)

“If Israel had annexed the territories and offered the population citizenship then this would have been a different story”

1) That’s still expansion by conquest, that’s not an offer of citizenship, that’s military extortion. You could see that if you though Palestinians were human beings.
2) Offered Israeli “citizenship” Israeli citizenship is meaningless. Israeli Citizenship as what is the question, and why on earth would they expect a special lower than low classification wouldn’t be created for them?
As you well know, every Israeli “citizen” is classified into categories which have different regulations and privileges.
3) You could just be tossing the word salad, since Witty isn’t around, and really have no idea what you are saying, there’s always that.

The BDS method is illogical. Even bankrupting scores of corporations would not persuade Israelis to give up their country or let be subject another series of vicious military attacks. Any more than the economic crisis in Greece could persuade Greece to give up its land or sovereignty.

The more you show that there is an array of forces trying to dismantle Israel, the more you show that Israel needs the territory required for a strong defense.

Compare that to the case of Iran, where the nation does not need nuclear weapons to survive, only to expand. Successful sanctions would still leave Iran in possession of their security and sovereignty.

AreaMan, you think BDS will be “bankrupting scores of corporations” and could “persuade Israelis to give up their country or let be subject another series of vicious military attacks.”
It scares the crap out of you, don’t it!! At any rate, I’m glad you can see just how tenuous and conditional the entire enterprise is.
It’s wonderful that BDS is having such a potent psychological effect before it even has a decisive economic effect.

AreaMan, Iran has NEVER, let me put that in caps, NEVER even hinted at the intention of expanding.

It is a violation of Iran’s sovereignty to sanction the country economically — by what right?? And maybe it’s different in Hebrew, but in English, “all options are on the table” sounds a lot like a threat to the physical well-being of Iran’s infrastructure and human citizens, ie. security.

On the other hand, BDS would “only” harm Israel’s #1 bragging right — its splendid capacity to make oodles of lucre. Take it as a challenge, Israel; say, “Go ahead, sanction Israel to the maximalist; we will survive ’cause we’re Nobel smart. ” (that is, adopt the posture that Iran has successfully adopted for the past 15 years). Let’s see how well Israel can compete on a level playing field.

“Even bankrupting scores of corporations would not persuade Israelis to give up their country or let be subject another series of vicious military attacks. Any more than the economic crisis in Greece could persuade Greece to give up its land or sovereignty.”

Who’s asking them to? I thought the point of BDS was to stimulate Israeli desire for a fair I-P settlement and (hopefully) a little Israeli respect for international law (i.e., UN resolutions and Palestinian rights as per the Geneva Conventions)…Irael is illegally occupying the Territories and essentially practicing apartheid, is it not?

In his opinion, the factory was in Israel. Jodie said that she had visited the West Bank, and the factory was clearly north of the internationally recognized Green Line that demarcated Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Every government in the world—including that of the United States and with the exception of Israel’s—recognized this land as occupied.

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